Pellet grill temperature disparity

[mrmerck]

I have a Smoke Daddy Pellet Pro 1190 and notice the thermometer on the top of the grill cabinet reads way off from where I set the temp on the hopper. The thermometer is considerably higher.

I guess this is normal?

 

[DougE]

Heat rises, so the top of the chamber is going to be the hottest spot.

What is your temp at grate level where the meat is? That's really what matters.

 

[fxsales1959]

typical with most. I use a 4 probe Inkbird to monitor grid temp and meat with other two or three

 

[schlotz]

Yup, most built-in therms are notorious for being off. Always use a calibrated third part setup which has a specific grate therm. I use one from ThermoWorks.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I have a Smoke Daddy Pellet Pro 1190 and notice the thermometer on the top of the grill cabinet reads way off from where I set the temp on the hopper. The thermometer is considerably higher.

I guess this is normal?

Any thermometer that isn’t at grate level or real close to, is worthless. If meat isn’t within about 2” in height from the thermometer it tells you nothing about the meat

 

[Randy1]

Smoke daddy has good support. Give them a call.

 

[sandyut]

The controller may use a thermocouple. Which is not a thermometer. So I am told. First I would reach out to smoke daddy and see what they say about it.

Second, I’ve probably never seen a dial thermometer worth a s**t.

As stated heat rises, so the top could very well be hotter. Or the dial thermometer is just way off. Refer to #2

 

[Randy1]

The larger the smoker the more useful a dial thermometer is for cooking chamber temperature if placed right. That is because in wood burners, the bigger the smoker, the higher the airflow.

Pellet smokers have very low air flow. They are often thin walled sides and top adding to the problem. As others have posted get a wireless thermometer to measure inside temp next to the meat.

 

[forktender]

"Pellet smokers have very low air flow"
That's a new one for me, seeing they all have a forced air fan.
I don't believe the above too accurate whatsoever.
If your thermo is with in 25* I wouldn't worry about it at all.

 

[Randy1]

A wood burner moves a lot of air continuously. The pellet fan is off and on as needed.

 

[DougE]

A wood burner moves a lot of air continuously. The pellet fan is off and on as needed.

Nope, the fan on my Camp Chef runs full time as long as the grill is running. The pellet feed auger starts and stops as needed, both to maintain temps and smoke.

 

[forktender]

A wood burner moves a lot of air continuously. The pellet fan is off and on as needed.

Not on my Camp Chef, the fan is on constantly. And I believe that to be true with most pellet cookers.

(Doug, ya beat me to it!!!)

 

[DougE]

Not on my Camp Chef, the fan is on constantly. And I believe that to be true with most pellet cookers.

(Doug, ya beat me to it!!!)

I think most/all work the same way as ours.

When temps get above the set point, the controller dumps a bunch of pellets in, choking the fire down, which causes the burn pot to cool down and smolder. Once the fire recovers, temps rise above the set temp again ....... rinse and repeat. The fan is running at the same rate the whole time the cooker is running, including the shut down process.

 

[Randy1]

My fan alters on and off. Even with the fan running full time my wood burner moves lot more air.

 

[Fueling Around]

Yeah on board thermometers are a best guess.

My fan alters on and off. Even with the fan running full time my wood burner moves lot more air.

What pooper are you running? I read some of the higher end units control the fan speed.
My Masterbuilt which is basically a Pit Boss clone runs the fan full speed. I got a cheap motor speed control unit off A Mart but haven't installed. I want to lower the fan speed while in smoke mode to reduce the white clouds and even out the low temp operation.

 

[sandyut]

I’m with DougE and forktender on this. I don’t think it’s a true statement to say pellet grills have “very low airflow”…

 

[chopsaw]

A wood burner moves a lot of air continuously. The pellet fan is off and on as needed.

I can see a point being made . Once that draw starts , they move some air . Even my MES 30 has great draw and air flow through the mail box .

My SmokeFire has a variable speed fan . Once it reaches temp , it backs down . Speed increases on temp setting increase . Once there it backs off accordingly , but it runs the whole time .

 

[Fueling Around]

...
My SmokeFire has a variable speed fan . Once it reaches temp , it backs down . Speed increases on temp setting increase . Once there it backs off accordingly , but it runs the whole time .

That's what I hope to duplicate with a manual fan speed control. A little more babysitting than a Smokefire but only plan to use it in the smoke mode which is a timed event.